Artistic Director - All Voices Community Choir

The All Voices Community Choir, Ottawa, is a large, dynamic, and engaging choir family, celebrating 50 years of bringing choral music to their community. Due to the pending retirement of their long-time AD, AVCC is seeking an experienced Artistic Director who engages, inspires and challenges singers in a positive and inclusive way, beginning in September 2027. This is a contract position starting September 2027 to May 2028, with the possibility of extension.

Ensembles description:

The All Voices Community Choir is a non-auditioned, not-for-profit community choir organization. The choir family has three ensembles: Children (S/A, ages 6-14), Teens (S/A/T/B, ages 12-16) and Adults (S/A/T/B, ages 16+). AVCC provides a welcoming, inclusive, safe, and enriching choral experience. The multi-generational characteristic of AVCC stresses choral singing as a fun and engaging life-long activity. It is customary that the 3 ensembles perform a few selections together each season, to nurture a spirit of intergenerational collaboration.

AVCC has also toured in Ontario and twice to Europe, most recently to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

All three choirs rehearse on Wednesdays, 5:45-9:30, in the west end of Ottawa. The Children’s choir rehearses for 1 hour, the Teens for 30 minutes (as they also sing with either the Children or the Adults, depending on their voice range and availability), and the Adults for 2 hours. The professional collaborative accompanist (piano) is engaged for all rehearsals and concerts.

Rehearsals are expected to be well prepared and well organized and reflect a spirit of cheerful community engagement. The choirs work very well, and together they share a joy of singing quality choral music, with many smiles and lots of laughter!

• Two concert series (2 performances of each programme): one in December and the other in May.
• Two “retreat” days: one in the fall, the other in the spring
• Performances/participation in one or two local festivals or choral workshops.
• Two fundraiser events, one of which includes the choir performing.
• One “purely social” event per term, just for fun! Lately, our Halloween talent show and party has been great!
• The AD is expected to participate in the social and fundraising events, to the best of their ability.

Repertoire:

AVCC programmes feature traditional and modern classical repertoire, folk, jazz and Broadway standards, with a large component of Canadian repertoire. The AVCC owns an extensive library, managed by a volunteer librarian.

The AD is expected to select repertoire that is accessible to non-auditioned choirs, but that also offers appropriate learning experiences and challenges. A diverse selection of repertoire, often from different cultures, periods, and sometimes in different languages has become the norm.

Role of the Artistic Director:

Lead rehearsals and direct concerts for the three ensembles. Note: the Board would consider a job-sharing arrangement.

Select repertoire for all performances. If collaborating with another conductor or student conductor, then repertoire should be discussed with these colleagues in a collaborative atmosphere. However, final decisions on programming rests with the AD. The AD is requested to be respectful of the financial status of the choir from year-to-year, and to make repertoire decisions that are financially sound. Decisions about programme “themes” are usually discussed with the board, with general consensus reached in June for the next choral season.

The AD is expected to work to foster a good working relationship with the AVCC collaborative accompanist.

The AD will select and coordinate any additional instrumentalists involved in programmes, being conscientious about budget considerations. Over the years, AVCC has welcomed a wonderful selection of semi-professional and professional instrumentalists from their community.

The AD is a voting member of the dynamic and engaged AVCC Board, and is expected to attend AVCC Board meetings, to the best of their ability. The AD is expected to keep the Board engaged in the planning process and musical development of the choirs.

The AD is encouraged to develop contacts and networking opportunities in the community for the AVCC, to encourage collaboration with local artists, and to seek out new and interesting performance opportunities for the choirs.

Expected qualifications of the AD:

The AD is expected to be a professionally trained musician, with conducting skills with different age groups and skill levels. Conducting techniques should include strong leadership in developing healthy vocal production, musical literacy, blend, and musical expression. The AD should also possess strong organizational and communication skills.

The AVCC is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds and abilities.

A Vulnerable Sector Police Check certificate is required prior to signing a contract with AVCC.